ALFRED
P.
WORKING PAPER
SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
Satisfaction and Behavioral Reactions of Employees
To Task Characteristics as a Function
Of Job Longevity, Age, and High-Order Needs
Ralph Katz
WP 932-77
May 1977
MASSACHUSETTS
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
50 MEMORIAL DRIVE
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
Satisfaction and Behavioral Reactions of Employees
To Task Characteristics as a Function
Of Job Longevity, Age, and High-Order Needs
Ralph Katz
WP 932-77
May 1977
"73/53?
ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the moderating influence of job longevity,
age, and high-order needs on the relationships between five separate task
dimensions and overall job satisfaction.
Basically, it was found that the
strength of the task dimension— job satisfaction relationships are significantly affected by job longevity regardless of age and high-order needs.
More specifically, three separate stages
a learning,
of job longevity are deduced, i.e.,
responsive, and an unresponsive stage.
Only during the responsive
stage were the satisfaction reactions of employees significantly correlated with
all of the task characteristics.
Furthermore, satisfaction was related most signi-
ficantly to the outcomes of performance and turnover during the responsive stage.
Individual differences, as measured by high-order need strength, were also in-
vestigated within the job longevity framework.
Survey data from 3085 public sector
employees belonging to four different governmental organizations were used to
investigate the hypothesized relationships.
.
Satisfaction and Behavioral Reactions of Employees
To Task Characteristics as a Function
Of Job Longevity, Age, and High-Order Needs
Over the past years, an impressive number of studies have documented the
deleterious effects of assigning employees to boring, meaningless, and routine
(e.g., Walker and Guest,
jobs
1952; Blauner, 1964; Shepard and Herrick, 1972).
As summarized by Work in America (1973)
,
it is the simplification and standardiza-
tion of job assignments that purportedly results in low motivation and satisfaction,
high absenteeism and turnover, poor production quality, as well as a number of
other undesirable consequences.
(1954), Argyris
In addition, the contemporary theories of Maslow
(1957), Herzberg (1966), Porter and Lawler
(1968), and Trist
(1970)
all emphasize that the manner in which jobs are designed has a significant impact
on employee attitudes, feelings, and behaviors.
Performance and satisfaction might
be enhanced if jobs were designed to be more challenging.
In response to these ideas, a number of job enrichment experiments have been
undertaken to improve a variety of problematic conditions, see Glaser (1975)
Despite these interventions, little cumulative knowledge has been achieved regarding the applicability, effectiveness, or process of job redesign (Hulin and Blood,
1968; Hackman and Lawler, 1971).
Furthermore, Hackman (1975) reports that at least
half of the attempts at job enrichment have failed while Fein (1974) and Gomberg
(1971)
question the validity of the self-reported job design successes in general.
Consequently, if we are to learn more about when and how to design enriched job
environments effectively, then we need to understand thoroughly how different
kinds of employees react to different task dimensions over time and under varied
conditions.
Research on Task Dimensions
Towards this end, Hackman and Lawler (1971) and Hackman and Oldham (1975)
have developed the Job Diagnostic Survey Instrument to measure the degree to which
certain conceptually independent task characteristics are present on employees'
jobs.
This instrument quantifies the distinct job attributes of
variety,
(b)
task identity,
(c)
task significance,
skill
(a)
autonomy, and
(d)
(e)
job feed-
back which presumably are critical for achieving high employee motivation, satisfaction, and commitment.
Their survey results confirm that, in general, these
job dimensions are strongly correlated with overall job satisfaction but are only
slightly related to various performance, turnover, and absenteeism measures.
In trying to identify specific conditions under which employees might be
particularly responsive (or particularly unresponsive) to the various task characteristics, a large number of studies, e.g., Hackman and Oldham (1975), Wanous (1974),
and Brief and Aldag (1975)
,
have consistently demonstrated that job satisfaction is
directly related to the various task dimensions more significantly for employees
with high growth need strength than for workers with low growth needs.
In addition,
Katz (1977) has shown that employees, categorized according to their stages of job
longevity, i.e., the length of time that an individual has been working on the
same job, had significantly different satisfaction reactions to the task charac-
teristics even though their high-order need strengths did not significantly differ.
Since the effects of high-order need strength and job longevity have only
been examined independently, a major purpose of this study is to examine both the
separate and simultaneous influence of these two moderating factors on the satis-
faction responses of employees to the task dimensions.
2
However, since age is strongly
connected with job longevity and perhaps associated with high-order needs (e.g.,
Porter, 1961)
,
it is initially important to clarify and isolate the influence of
both of these moderating variables from any potential age effects.
Finally, the
possible influence of job longevity and high-order needs on the relationships
between job satisfaction and the outcome measures of performance and turnover are
subsequently discussed and investigated.
The Effects of Job Longevity
Recognizing the important influence of career and job stages, Katz (1977)
demonstrated that the amount of job longevity significantly moderated the satisfaction reactions of employees to the task characteristics of their jobs even
though there were no corresponding differences among the employees' indicated
growth need strength.
1966)
With socialization and resocialization (Schein, 1971; Wheeler
as the explanatory framework, Katz showed that the satisfaction scores of
individuals were related most positively to the dimensions of task significance
and job feedback during the first few months of a new job.
Contrastingly, the
satisfaction reactions of employees in this initial job period were unrelated to
the task features of skill variety, task identity, and autonomy.
Perhaps, employees
are too distracted during these months by the building of interpersonal relationships
and the learning of new technical requirements to react positively to all of the
challenging task characteristics of their new jobs.
On the whole, the satisfaction scores of employees who had passed through this
initial job stage were positively associated with the various task features of
their jobs.
However, those individuals whose job longevity
ranged between
1
and
3
years appeared to be the most responsive group while the satisfaction responses of
workers with considerable job longevity (around 10+ years) were completely unrelated
to the various task characteristics.
As suggested by Argyris (1957)
that various psychological defenses have enabled employees to adapt
,
it is possible
to substantial
job tenure by becoming unresponsive to the task features of their jobs.
The Influence of Age
In studying the impact of age, Porter (1961)
found that the importance of
physiological and social needs of managers in his sample varied positively with age
while the need importance of self-actualization varied inversely with age.
Similar
results were also reported by Hall and Mansfield (1975) from their research and
and development samples.
As a result, one might expect younger employees to be
more responsive to task characteristics than older employees.
Since job longevity
and age are empirically interrelated, such a connection might help explain why
job satisfaction was not related to the task dimensions of those employees who
had substantial job tenure.
It is important, therefore, to demonstrate that the
satisfaction reactions of employees to the task characteristics of their assigned
jobs is indeed significantly influenced by job longevity irrespective of age!
Hence,
the task dimension-job satisfaction relationships are hypothesized to be the same
for older employees as they are for younger employees when controlling for the
effects of job longevity.
Moreover, if, in fact, growth need strength significantly
varies with age, then one must also check the moderating effects of high-order need
strength within age groups.
Personality and Situational Interaction
Ever since Lewin's (1966) original formulation, it has been generally agreed
that behaviors and attitudes tend to be a function of the interaction between the
person and his environment (e.g., Crozier, 1964; Katz and Van Maanen, 1977; Hulin,
et al.
,
1976; Mowday, Stone, and Porter, 1976).
As a result, if both the individuals'
high-order need strength and job longevity significantly affect the task dimensionjob satisfaction relationships, then it is essential to determine how they interact
to influence employee responsiveness to the various task dimensions.
Thus, this
research will investigate the combined effects of personality, in the form of
high-order need strength, and the situational setting, in the form of job longevity,
on the satisfaction reactions of employees to the different task features of their
jobs.
Does growth need strength, for example, significantly moderate the task
dimension-job satisfaction relationships for all employees regardless of job
longevity, or is it influential only during particular job stages?
,
Behavioral Outcomes and Job Satisfaction
With only a few exceptions, a vast number of studies have consistently found
job satisfaction to be significantly associated with turnover (Vroom, 1964;
Porter and Steers, 1973).
In comparison,
however, investigations of the performance-
job satisfaction relationship have not yielded either clear or consistent results
as concluded by the classic reviews of Brayfield and Crockett
and Schwab and Cummings (1970)
.
(1955)
,
Vroom (1964)
Despite this lack of association, it has been
suggested by a number of researchers (e.g., Argyris, 1964; Porter and Lawler, 1968;
Hackman and Lawler, 1971) that performance would be linked with job satisfaction for
those situations where the tasks provided employees with the opportunity to perform
meaningful and responsible work with clear feedback.
However, empirical investiga-
tions of this possibility have not resulted in consistently positive performancejob satisfaction relationships (e.g., Hackman and Lawler, 1971; Locke, Sirota and
Wolfson, 1976; Baird, 1976; and Umstot, Bell, and Mitchell, 1976).
One possible explanation for such ambiguity stems from Argyris
1
(1957, 1964)
assertion that the adjustment of individuals to their organizational work environments can significantly influence the determinants of employee satisfaction.
More
specifically, the amount of influence that the assignment of demanding or enriched
tasks might have had at one time in the formation of high satisfaction attitudes
could shift to any number of other non-task sources such as friendly co-workers,
flexible or short working hours, job security, supervisory practices, etc.
Having
challenging tasks per se, therefore, may not be enough, for employees must also
be responsive to the richness of their jobs, i.e., the various task dimensions.
Following this lead, Hackman and Lawler (1971) suggested that individuals with
higher growth needs might possess a stronger relationship between performance and satisfaction on relatively challenging tasks than individuals with weaker levels of high-order
need strength.
Using this line of reasoning, Steers (1975 demonstrated that
performance and satisfaction were significantly correlated only for those employees
with a high need for achievement and were unrelated for those employees whose
indicated achievement needs were low.
In a similar vein,
if, in
fact,
job longevity significantly moderates the satis-
faction responsiveness of employees to their task characteristics, then one might
also expect employee performance to be associated more strongly with job satisfaction
during those job stages in which employees are most responsive.
The underlying
assumption being that during these particular job periods, the more satisfied
employees would be more willing to inject greater effort and involvement into their
tasks.
Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the relationship between performance
and job satisfaction is significantly moderated by job longevity such that they
are interrelated most positively when employees are most responsive to their task
characteristics.
Similarly, it is hypothesized that, in general, job satisfaction
will vary inversely with turnover but will be related most negatively with turnover
during the same responsive job longevity periods.
Method
The respondent sample consisted of 3,085 public sector employees distributed
across four distinct governmental organizations (including two municipalities, one
county, and one state government)
from different geographical regions of the U.S.
These participating governments represent a rather loose confederation
of various
service departments such as police, fire, sanitation, and data-processing de-
partments, public works, social work agencies, hospital and health care systems,
etc.
Participants were randomly selected within each
governmental organization using
a stratification design based on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's
(EEOC)
job classification system, believed to be representative of the mix of
available occupations and jobs.
The final sample represents approximately 40%
of all governmental employees across the four sites.
With the governments'
cooperation, questionnaires were administered in available meeting rooms during
regular working hours by external researchers and staff.
For a cross-sectional
study of this sort, it is important to keep the compared subsamples as homogeneous
as possible. As a result, only the male portion of the sample will be included in
this study's analysis (N=2094)
,
since it is quite possible that there may be sex-
linked differences regarding the satisfaction reactions of employees
at particular job and career stages
1977)
.
(Hulin and Smith, 1965; Marsh and Mannari,
The distribution of the male sample across the eight EEOC job categories
is as follows:
administrative (13.9%); professionals (13.5%); technical (16.4%);
protective service (16.5%); para-professional (2.7%); clerical (4.7%); skilled craft
(13.3%); and maintenance
Task Characteristics
:
(18.9%).
Respondent perceptions of their supposed "objective" task
characteristics were measured using the Job Diagnostic Survey Instrument reported by
Hackman and Oldham (1975).
According to the psychometric properties reported by the
authors, this instrument provides fairly accurate measures of jobs along five important task dimensions:
(1)
Skill Variety, the degree to which the job requires different
activities calling for the use of different skills;
(2)
Task Identity, the degree
to which the job requires the completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work
or process;
(3)
Task Significance, the degree to which the job has a perceivable
impact on other people or their jobs;
(4)
Autonomy, the degree to which the job
provides an employee with freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling
and carrying out work assignments; and
(5)
Job Feedback, the degree to which an
employee receives information from the job itself regarding the effectiveness of
his work.
Each task dimension was measured by averaging the responses to at least
.
.
three different seven-point, Likert-type items.
The split-half reliabilities for the
five task dimensions in the present study range from .71 to .83 while the inter-
correlations among the dimensions range from .19 to .44 and are very similar
to those reported by Hackman and Oldham (1975)
Based on the instrument developed by Hackman and Lawler (1971)
Job Satisfaction:
and used by many other studies such as Steers
(1975)
and Brief and Aldag (1975), overall
job satisfaction was measured by averaging the responses of employees to several
Likert-type items ranging from completely satisfied to completely dissatisfied,
e.g.,
"All in all, how satisfied are you with your employment in this organization?"
and "Considering all things, how satisfied are you with your job?"
(split-half
reliability = .75).
Outcomes
:
Job performance scores were obtained for 35% of the respondents, randomly
selected from the sample of one of the government organizations.
scores (N=89 with 61 males)
,
To obtain these
immediate supervisors were identified and asked to
rate the overall performance and effort of the subordinates on two separate 5-point,
Likert-type items with alternative value headings stating that performance (or
effort)
(4)
is:
poor;
(1)
(2)
does not meet expectations;
exceeds expectations; and
(5)
outstanding.
(3)
meets expectations;
By having supervisors rate behavior
relative to expectations, it was expected that a more even and less biased distri-
bution of performance and effort scores would be obtained.
In addition, the
averaged performance measures (split-half reliability = .83) were not significantly
related to job type or job level as measured by the EEOC occupational codes.
Turnover data for this subsample was obtained for a period of
the collection of the questionnaire and performance data.
of Marsh and Mannari (1977)
,
3
years following
Based on the findings
it was felt that such a long interval was necessary
to allow sufficient time for "opportunities to leave" to present themselves.
correlation between job performance and eventual turnover was -.37
after excluding
7
retirees)
(p <
.01;
The
N=54
High-Order Needs
:
The strength of high-order or growth needs was measured by
averaging each respondent's answers to a number of 5-point, Likert-type items
similar to those developed by Porter (1961), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and
Wanous (1974).
Employees indicated how much they would like to receive recognition,
to do interesting and challenging work, to develop one's potential,
to feel competent
purposeful,
and capable, to utilize one's skills and ability, to feel useful and
Since high-order need strength
and to feel respected (split-half reliability = .90)
is a potential moderator variable,
it is important to note that in this study it
is unrelated to all of the task characteristic,
satisfaction, and outcome measures.
high or low highThe overall sample mean was used to split respondents into either
order need groups.
Age and Job Longevity
:
to specify their age.
As part of the questionnaire, respondents were asked
Based on Hall and Mansfield's (1975) conclusions
regarding important age distinctions, respondents were split into
(<35;
35-50;
>50)
3
age groupings
for testing the possible effects of age on the satisfaction
reactions of employees to their task characteristics.
In addition,
job
longevity was obtained by asking respondents to indicate how long (to the nearest
month)
they had been working at their current jobs.
The moderating influence of job
longevity on the satisfaction responsiveness of employees for the present data
was previously established and discussed in Katz (1977).
Based on the similarity of
correlational findings between adjacent job longevity categories, respondents were
divided into a more parsimonious number of job tenure groupings, i.e., 0-3 months;
4-12 months; 1-3 years;
3-10 years; and 10+ years.
are significantly connected (r = .45; p
need strength in this study.
<
Although age and job longevity
.001), age was not related to growth
Furthermore, none of the task dimension, satisfaction,
performance, and high-order need measures significantly varied with job longevity;
while of these variables, only satisfaction was slightly correlated with age
.
10
(r
= -.14;
p
<
.001). With respect to turnover, however, both job longevity and
age were somewhat associated with eventual organizational departures
and -.41, respectively; p
<
.05;
(r =
-.26
N=54)
RESULTS
Influence of Job Longevity
The correlational results of Table
1
reveal that, in general, overall job
satisfaction is significantly associated with each of the task dimensions to
approximately the same extent.
As previously discussed, however, job longevity
significantly moderates the satisfaction reactions of employees to their task
Insert Table
characteristics.
1
About Here
It seems that the satisfaction scores of employees who are in the
earlier stages of a new job (i.e., the 4-12 month and 1-3 year periods) are most cor-
related to the various job dimensions; whereas, the satisfaction responses of employees
who have considerable job tenure (10+ years) are unassociated with the assorted
task features.
In addition, respondents in the initial entry or "learning" stage
of a new job (the 0-3 month period) seem to be significantly reactive, in terms
of satisfaction, only to the task characteristics of significance and job feedback while
the other task dimension-job satisfaction relationships are either insignificant
or slightly negative as in the case of autonomy.
Influence of Age
In parallel with the findings for
job longevity, the related, yet distinguishable,
variable of age also significantly moderates the task dimension-job satisfaction
relationships as shown by the correlational analysis of Table
2.
As previously
11
Insert Table
2
About Here
speculated, workers from the youngest group (i.e., less than 35 years of age) are
in terms of satisfaction, to the various task features
significantly more reactive,
of their jobs than the oldest group.
Furthermore, the strength of the correlations
between job satisfaction and each task dimension for respondents in the middle-age
category (35-50 year olds) fall between the magnitudes of the corresponding correlations of the younger and older employee groups.
It would appear,
therefore, that
the satisfaction responsiveness of employees to their task characteristics varies
inversely with age, especially since high-order need importance did not significantly
vary across the three age groups.
Influence of Age and Longevity
Since the satisfaction reactions of employees to the five task design features
appear to diminish with either age or job longevity, variables which are themselves
strongly interconnected, it is important to unravel and clarify their joint
moderating influence.
Accordingly, Table
3
compares the task dimension- job
satisfaction relationships between the youngest and oldest employee groups within
the different stages of job longevity.
Insert Table
As shown by this table, the satisfaction
3
About Here
reactions of both the <35 and 50+ age groups to each of the task characteristics
are extremely similar within each job longevity stage.
same correlational pattern established by Table
1.
Moreover, they follow the
Both employee age groups, for
12
example, are most reactive, in terms of satisfaction, to the task dimensions in
the earlier job stages; and both have unrelated task dimension-job satisfaction
relationships during the 10+ year period of longevity, although the sample size
for the <35 age group in this period is relatively small.
there is substantial agreement between the satisfaction reactions
In addition,
of both age groups to their task features during the initial period of a new job.
For example, both employee groups have a slightly negative correlation between
autonomy and job satisfaction during this first job stage.
It is also important
to mention that the task dimension - job satisfaction relationships of the 35 to 50 year
age group follow the same pattern as the results for the youngest and oldest
respondent groups when examined within the job longevity framework.
As previously
suggested, these results strongly argue that the significant moderating influence
of age on the satisfaction responsiveness of employees to their task characteristics
is spurious and exists empirically only through the positive association between
age and job longevity.
High-Order Needs and Job Longevity
Commensurate with findings from previous studies, Table 4 shows that high-
order need
strength
faction relationships.
also significantly moderates the task dimension- job satis-
Except for task identity, employees in the high growth
Insert Table
4
About Here
need strength group have significantly stronger relationships between the various
task dimensions and job satisfaction than respondents in the low growth need group.
To investigate the effects of the interaction between personality and situa-
tional variables that are independent, i.e., between growth need strength and job
longevity; Table
5
compares the task dimension-job satisfaction relationships of
the high and low growth need groups within each stage of job longevity.
Looking at
13
Insert Table
5
About Here
the results, it is clear that high-order need strength strongly moderates the task-
satisfaction relationships in the first three job longevity periods (although not
quite significantly during the initial learning stage) such that the satisfaction
scores of the high need group are related more significantly to the task dimensions
than the corresponding scores of the low need group.
Surprisingly enough, however,
during the 3-10 year period of job longevity, the satisfaction responsiveness of
employees belonging to the low growth need group is slightly greater (and significantly greater for task significance)
than the corresponding task dimension-job satis-
faction relationships of the high need group.
It may be that although the satisfac-
tion reactions of employees with high growth needs are still not related to all of
the task dimensions during the initial learning stage, they are able to accept and
respond to the challenging aspects of their jobs sooner than those employees who
have lower growth needs and who are more likely to be reactive when they are
further along on their jobs.
Most important, however, is that the satisfaction
values of employees from both the high and low growth need groups are unassociated
with the task characteristics of their jobs when there is substantial job longevity,
i.e.,
in the 10+ year period.
Behavioral Results
Addressing the proposed hypothesis that satisfaction is more positively related
to performance and more negatively related to turnover during those job longevity
stages in which employees were most reactive to the task dimensions, Table 6 displays
the comparative relationships beween satisfaction and these outcome
job tenure periods for the small subset of respondents.
measures within
It is important to mention
that the pattern of satisfaction responsiveness within this small but representative
14
subset
followed the same pattern established for the entire sample:
those
employees in the early job stages, i.e., 4-12 months and 1-3 years, were significantly
(p <
.05)
more reactive, in terms of overall job satisfaction, to the task
characteristics of their jobs than the remaining employees, especially those
workers in the 10+ year longevity period.
4
Insert Table 6 About Here
In support of the hypothesis,
the results of Table 6 show that job longevity
significantly influenced the relationships between overall job satisfaction and
performance such that they were most associated during the job longevity stage of
1-3 years, i.e., the stage in which the satisfaction reactions of these employees
were most related to their task characteristics.
Moreover, satisfaction was some-
what negatively related, though not significantly, to the performance scores of
respondents who had considerable job longevity and who were not especially reactive
to the task dimensions.
In a similar vein, job longevity significantly moderated
the relationships between satisfaction and actual turnover.
Employees who were
dissatisfied during the 1-3 year job stage were most likely to leave the organization over the next
3
years.
Eventual turnover, however, did not vary inversely
with the overall satisfaction scores of employees from the 4-12 month period of
job longevity.
Although these findings are important and support the tendered
hypothesis with respect to the job satisfaction-outcome relationships, they
should still be viewed as highly speculative simply because of the small subsample
sizes within each job longevity period.
15
DISCUSSION
The thrust of the findings from the preceding section suggests that the satis-
faction reactions of employees to their task characteristics is significantly
affected by job longevity irrespective of age.
In fact, employees belonging to
each of the age categories, including the young, the old, and the middle-age,
appear to have congruent profiles or shapes of satisfaction responsiveness to the
various task dimensions across the job longevity continuum.
In general, the fore-
going analysis suggests that the satisfaction reaction pattern, common to all three
age groups, might be described by three transitional stages, i.e., an initial
learning stage followed by a responsive period that gradually shifts into an
unresponsive stage after considerable job tenure.
Although it is impossible to
validate these implied transitions with a cross-sectional study, the three stages
do seem to capture the satisfaction reactions of the current respondent sample.
Moreover, there were no
significant differences among the various job longevity
groupings with respect to job type as measured by the EEOC classification system
or the means and variances of the satisfaction, high-order need strength, and task
dimension measures.
Carefully planned longitudinal studies, however, are needed
to clarify and validate the situation.
Using these
3
stages of job longevity as a descriptive framework, employees
who are in the beginning months of a new job are in the initial learning stage.
During this relatively short period, it was found that the respondent satisfaction
scores were only significantly related to task significance and job feedback and
were unrelated to the dimensions of skill variety and task identity and somewhat
negatively related to autonomy.
Apparently, employees are too concerned
16
and preoccupied with establishing and clarifying their new situational identities
to respond positively to all of the challenging task features of their new jobs.
Following this initial learning stage, however, respondents in all
3
age
categories were about equally and significantly reactive, in terms of satisfaction,
to the various task characteristics of their jobs,
period of job longevity.
especially during the 1-3 year
Moreover, as hypothesized, satisfaction was strongly related
to both performance and subsequent turnover during this purported responsive stage,
although such findings must be interpreted with caution in light of the rather
small subsample size.
In comparison,
those respondents, regardless of age, who
had been working on the same job for a considerable period of time, around 10 years
or more, appear to be the inhabitants of an unresponsive stage, for their satisfaction
scores were unrelated to the different task dimensions.
In addition, the satisfaction
attitudes of this so-called unresponsive group were somewhat negatively associated
with the performance measures, though as before; the size of the subsample is rather
small.
Individual Differences
In addressing the problem of individual differences, the present study cor-
roborated previous findings that high-order need strength significantly moderates
the task dimension - job satisfaction relationships.
By incorporating the notion of
individual differences into the job longevity framework, however, it was found
that high-order need strength may, in fact, affect the rapidity or speed with which
the satisfaction reactions of employees become positively related to task charac-
teristics once a new job has begun; and not just simply whether or not
reactions of employees are associated with the different task features.
the satisfaction
Based on
the findings presented here, it was found that the task dimension —job satisfaction
relationships for both the high and low growth need respondent groups followed the
17
pattern representing all three transitional stages, i.e., learning, responsive, and
unresponsive.
The important difference, however, was that employees possessing
high growth needs were significantly more responsive to some of the task dimensions
in the 4-12 month and 1-3 year job longevity periods than were respondents with low
growth needs.
On the other hand, the job satisfaction scores for the low need group
were slightly more related to the task characteristics during the 3-10 year period
than were the high need group.
ni'i«fjH
As a result, it is possible that high-order
(or other similar personality variables such as the need for achievement)
significantly affect the task dimension - job satisfaction relationships by influencing
the timing and duration with which the three transitional stages transpire along the
job longevity continuum.
Although these cross-sectional results are important and
relevant, longitudinal studies are clearly required to test these implied differences
and changes.
In addition, the subsample was, unfortunately, not large enough to
investigate the effects of the interaction between job longevity and high-order need
strength on the relationships between job satisfaction and employee performance
and turnover; though in this particular study, high-order need strength did not
significantly moderate these relationships by itself.
Implications
If,
in fact, the three stages of learning, responsiveness, and unresponsiveness
are a valid representation of the satisfaction reactions of employees to their task
characteristics along the job longevity continuum, then it is possible that different
change programs, policies, or managerial activities may be more relevant for employees
at different job longevity stages.
According to the present findings, for example,
a plan which tries to enhance motivation,
satisfaction, or performance by adding
challenge, meaning, and responsibility to the individuals' current jobs is likely
to be more pertinent and successful for those workers in the responsive stage of
job longevity than for employees in the unresponsive stage.
Moreover, if it is
18
true that employees tend to shift across the three stages, then employees who may
have at one time been receptive to their task features, i.e., during the responsive
stage, could become less receptive to additional challenge and responsibility or
Although there are many other
redesign efforts, in general, at a later date.
factors that have to be considered in any job redesign effort, the present results
emphasize the importance of also considering the effects of job longevity on
employees' responsiveness to the task features of their jobs.
Although not explicitly covered in this study, it is also possible that
different managerial behaviors are more germane during each of the job longevity
stages.
Since employees were found during the initial learning stage to be highly
responsive to task significance but concurrently unresponsive to skill variety and
slightly distressed by high autonomy, it seems likely that leadership of a more
supportive,
integrative, and structuring nature would be more welcomed and perhaps
more effective during this brief, but nevertheless, important entry period.
The
need for this kind of leadership during the learning stage might also help explain
why Umstot et al.
(1976)
found goal-setting to be more effective than job enrichment
in their well-designed but short-term field experiment.
On the other hand, it is
possible that during the responsive job longevity stage, employees are more attentive,
involved, and willing to expend additional task effort; hence, leadership of a more
delegative and less structuring nature may be more appropriate.
Finally, perhaps
more directive and less delegative leadership may be more reasonable when employees
are not particularly responsive to the task characteristics of their jobs, i.e.,
during the unresponsive longevity stage.
Clearly, additional research is needed
to test these deduced possibilities.
With respect to individual differences, the present findings attempt to enlarge
upon the notion of "matching the individual to the job" or vice-versa, e.g.,
Lawler (1975)
,
Mowday, Stone, and Porter (1976)
,
Steers and Spencer (1976)
.
In
addition to matching the amount of job challenge to the high-order need strength
or the needs for achievement and affiliation of the various individuals, the present
results suggest that one might also consider how quicklv the individuals are expected
t'
1
assume more challenging tasks as part of their jobs.
It appears that individuals
with high growth needs might be better matched with jobs that allow them to
undertake more challenging tasks and responsibilities fairly soon into
their jobs while employees with low growth needs might be better matched with jobs
that gradually lead to more challenge.
Most important, however, is that both need
groups were found in this study to have a satisfaction responsive stage to the
task characteristics of their jobs.
Such results may be very helpful in the
assignment of individuals to particular jobs and supervisors.
Substantially more
research is needed on individual differences, in general, and on the outcomes,
i.e., performance and subsequent turnover, of the suggested matching procedures.
Finally, but most important, the current job longevity analysis seems to suggest
that job mobility or rotation might help prevent employees from moving into an un-
responsive longevity stage or might help shift employees from an unresponsive stage
into the learning and subsequent responsive stage regardless of age.
With a cross-
sectional study of this sort, however, one cannot really ascertain if such is the
case.
It is possible,
for example, that relatively few of the respondents in the
responsive longevity stage of the overall sample were employees who had changed jobs
after considerable job tenure.
As a result, it is unclear from this study whether
job rotation might help shift unresponsive employees into the other stages, although
the likelihood that job rotation might help forestall employees from shifting into
an unresponsive stage is more credible, though not specifically demonstrated,
this study.
from
A great deal of research needs to be done on the effects of job
rotation and other kinds of job changes on the responsiveness of employees to their
task characteristics.
From the present findings, it is possible that such changes
20
may be found fruitful for maintaining employee responsiveness to the task elements of
their jobs
— for
the young as well as for the old!
The present study represents an introductory exploration into the possible
affects of job longevity on employee attitudes and behavior.
In addition to
longitudinal support and the need to study actual job rotations and change, the
present findings should be extended and refined especially regarding possible
individual difference parameters and diagnostic methods and with respect to
specific kinds of occupations and careers.
.
21
FOOTNOTES
1.
The author would like to express his appreciation to Professor Edgar Schein,
J.
Richard Hackman, Chris Argyris, and John Van Maanen for their most helpful
comments on earlier versions of this research.
2.
In addition to these variables, a number of other moderating factors have been
studied, e.g., contextual satisfaction (Oldham, 1976); organizational climate
(Zierden, 1975); and organizational structure
3.
(Hulin, Horn, and Herman, 1976).
Unfortunately, the other three governments preferred not to participate in
the performance portion of the study.
4.
Using Hackman and Lawler's (1971) model for aggregating the scores of the
different task dimensions into an overall Motivating Potential Score (MPS)
index, the correlations between MPS and job satisfaction in each of the latter
four job longevity periods were:
5.
r = .39;
.51;
.20;
and -.16, respectively.
See Katz (1977) for a more thorough discussion of the effects of socialization
and resocialization on the satisfaction reactions of employees to task
characteristics
22
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25
TABLE
1
Correlations With Overall Job Satisfaction
For Different Periods of Job Longevity
Task Dimensions
26
TABLE
2
Correlations With Overall Job Satisfaction
For Different Age Categories
-Age Categories-
Task Dimensions
27
TABLE
3
Task Dimension —Job Satisfaction Relationships
By Age and Job Longevity
28
TABLE
4
Correlations With Overall Job Satisfaction
By High-Order Need Strength
29
TABLE
5
Task Dimension— Job Satisfaction Relationships by High-Order
Need Strength and Job Longevity
Da. e
MR 2 5
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